


At the Edge of the Sky

by Michevalier



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, Fluff, Hotdogshipping, I Need More Fluff With My OTP, M/M, Post-Canon, Shosaku, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, oh well, or at least a little bit of speculation, probably cringey as hell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-11
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-28 18:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13909899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michevalier/pseuds/Michevalier
Summary: There was nothing more precious to Yusaku than after years of struggling to finally have some peace at the beach, eat the masterpiece of Sho-chan's outstanding barbeque art and watch some little lovey-dovey clouds drifting at the edge of the sky.





	At the Edge of the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> A little attempt to get myself distracted from all the current angst and drama in Vrains (and my habit of writing those in my fics).

The idea came to their "bright" minds as abruptly as the breeze blew in their faces, welcoming them at the ocean site. Flee from the rest of the world, away from dusty and noisy Den City at least for a week. It was a rather tough mission to find a quiet, minimally urbinazed piece of paradise on this overpopulated planet, but Fortune goddess eventually blew them a lucky kiss along with a birdie chirping about that nice little place to spent vacation in.

At first Yusaku sincerely mistook their new surroundings for the legendary spot of Bounty chocolate bar commercial. Picturesque lagoon in the middle of nowhere (though not too far from the village they were staying in), endless ocean fused with skies and without obvious way to tell which azure was meant for a couple of energetic young men to swim in and which was for squealing seagulls to fly.

But neither Shoichi nor Yusaku minded the bizarre surrealism as they caught waves between fluffy clouds, with their own fingertips touched the birds' wings, held the sun itself in their palms and splashed it onto each other, disturbing the local wildlife with loud laughter.

Active leisure inevitably led to stomachs grumbling, so Shoichi quickly made himself busy with what was both his work and favorite hobby, and soon delicious smell of cooked meat soared towards the afternoon sun.

"Looks nice," Yusaku's voice was accompanied by lively dancing rhythms bouncing from his I-Pad.

"What exactly?" Shoichi had to raise his own tone to overpower beef violently hissing on the grill. "Our lunch?"

"That as well," Yusaku couldn't help chuckling as his gaze was basically glued to his boyfriend's bubble butt swaying according to the rhythmic beats.

"Hungry, eh?" Shoichi cooed as he unmistakably recognized the emotion blatantly printed on the face of the one whom he had been dating for about two years, let alone had been acquainted with even longer.

"Just a little," Yusaku quickly redeemed himself by shrugging and switching his attention to the grill instead.

"I've got some new spices," the older man laughed. "Should be good."

Some time later the first-class kebab was finally ready.

"Mm, it's delicious!" Yusaku's eyes went wide in astonishment as he grabbed the first bite. "Which spices did you add here?"

"Lots of nice ones," Shoichi proudly held his own portion of sweet-scented crusty meat on skewer. "A bit of parsley, cumin, allspice, Aleppo, mint, coriander, cinnamon, salt, pepper and, finally, some onions and tomatoes sprinkled with lemon juice."

"Is this a new recipe from Cafe Nagi?"

"Not really yet, but I'm planning to add it to the menu."

It should be noted that a year and a half after Yusaku's graduation from high school, with a little bit of financial help from their newfound friends Kusanagi Shoichi was able to transform his hot dog truck cafe into a small but full-fledged and quite successful restaurant. There was some special charm to the new Cafe Nagi as its cosy, almost domestic atmosphere and the owner's warm, friendly smile attracted lots of customers. Shoichi quickly caught the gist of possibilities and used it in his favor by making menu bigger and more variable, cooking everything from simple fast food like he used to and learning new recipes of the tastiest kebabs he could find. It ended up turning into a golden mine as Den City's population took a great fancy to Shoichi's cooking art, so the restaurant's income was something he wouldn't dream of during his days as just a hot dog vendor.

"So, do you like it here?" he asked after they finished their meal.

"I sure do..." Yusaku let out a relaxed sigh, lying back on their beach mat and looking up at the sky.

For him, a student who just finished his first year at prestigious Den City's university, it was truly a great chance to get well-deserved rest. Those money Shoichi had been saving for over a year surely didn't go to waste.

"Your grades are one the highest on your course," Shoichi smiled, snuggling up to his lover. "I'm so proud of you."

"I did work hard to get into that university in the first place," Yusaku put his head on the man's chest. "I cannot allow myself to have the scholarship I get as help be in vain."

"You've always deserved to have everything best, Yusaku," Shoichi gently ruffled his hair and smooched the top of his head.

"I think you're right. After all, I do have you."

Shoichi's cheeks dusted pink while Yusaku nonchalantly picked up a small, somehow shapen akin to a heart sea shell.

 _And that soft, tranquil smile beaming on his lips_...

It simply made Shoichi melt.

Having caught a glimpse of that, Yusaku purposefully curved the corners of his mouth into more sly expression and purred, nuzzling, like a kitty, under his beloved's chin.

"You have no idea how happy I am to be alive..."

...And Yusaku had _no_ idea how _much_ of gentle sunlight was he bringing into Shoichi's soul with these simple words.

Right now, from the perspective of halcyon sunlit days, their previous life seemed like a nightmare while they were awake.

Or was that even _life_ if it was filled with nothing but endless striving for revenge, chasing ghosts of the past?

Their past shrouded in dark smoke was suffocating, intoxicating their way of seeing the world, painting it in only black and white with occasional gleams of gray. Day by day they fought, struggled in that darkness, seeing no colors, no light, no future as the ending they expected to get back then was... what even that was..?

Life _is_ an endless battle in any case, and the two of them did battle, first against the Knights of Hanoi, then against new forces that threatened to put an end to the already fragile existence that was the entire world.

They fought, bravely and wholeheartedly as they eventually found trustworthy allies with hearts as courageous and golden as theirs.

They fought as they learned how to build strong bonds and friendships.

They fought and they won.

The war against the outside evil, that is, as there yet was...

"Hm?" Shoichi reacted to his phone chirping a short tune of incoming message. "Awwh, Yusaku! Check this out!"

"What is it?" intrigued by his boyfriend's radiant smile, Yusaku took a look at the display and couldn't hold back a smile of his own. "Aw geez, these two!"

It was impossible not to feel a warm, kinda ticklish happiness within while seeing Kusanagi Jin's beaming face.

Yes, Shoichi's little brother was saved from the darkness his consciousness had been dying in for so many years.

"I could never thank you enough for this," Shoichi looked at Yusaku with heart-warming, loving gaze.

"It wouldn't have been possible," the younger man shook his head, "if you didn't give a hand in the end."

Every time Shoichi looked back at his past, he would shudder at this fact.

So preoccupied with "justice" which was mostly just a cover for his own sense of overwhelming guilt that kept rotting in his very being since that fatal day many years ago... the day when Shoichi looked away only for a moment and lost his lil' bro because of that. How many years did Shoichi waste on avoiding looking into Jin's eyes, holding his hand, simply sitting next to him..?

Yes, Yusaku did after all dragged his brother out of the darkness, but not before reflecting back onto their lives and giving Shoichi a good slap for being such a coward. It was Yusaku who chased away the childhood fears and regrets and provided the older Kusanagi sibling with all the courage needed in order to directly face the darkness Jin was drowning in and, finally, reach out and become the vital pull that helped the boy to get out of that pitch-black swamp.

"I'm still gonna say it," Shoichi sighed and nuzzled his cheek against Yusaku's. "Thank you for getting my head out of the sand and opening my eyes. Thank you for letting _me_ be the one to save him."

"You've always were a good big brother," Yusaku nuzzled back. "Jin never doubted that."

Shoichi smiled bitterly.

Really, without Yusaku he would have never realized that his fears existed exclusively within his own head.

 _That Jin never hated him and all the therapy he needed was his big brother never leaving his side_.

"Oh god," Yusaku clicked his tongue and shook his head in disapproval at the sight of Ai inside robo-dachshund guise standing on his hind legs and trying to juggle. "What in the world is he doing?"

"Making great profit for the restaurant," Shoichi laughed.

"I thought you once said he would make a lame mascot."

"And I was obviously wrong. He does excellent in both of his personas."

By "both personas" Shoichi meant that during daytime Ai would entertain customers in traditionally associated with Cafe Nagi "weenie dog" image whereas after sunset he would transform in his normal, tiny self and would make each and every customer struggle not to choke while performing hilarious stand-ups, repertoire of which would change from day to day but nevertheless remain outstanding and popular among everyone wishing to prolong their life with a good laugh.

"You're yet to admit aloud he's doing great," Shoichi gave Yusaku a mischievous wink.

"Oh please," he huffed, but then his expression magically turned into a gentle smile. "You know I won't."

"Even though you sincerely love him?" Shoichi caught him red-handed and snuggled up closer. "You were a little tsundere and not gonna change it, no?"

"Nope," Yusaku intoned.

This honestly made Shoichi dangerously close to laughing.

Now that Yusaku wasn't carrying the weight of the entire world on his shoulders it was actually not so hard to see that Ai _was_ modeled after him after all.

"I'm kidding," Yusaku chuckled. "You know I love our baby very much."

And this colored Shoichi's face in bright vermilion.

Ever since Yusaku fully came to accept Ai's existence (it didn't matter that he was "born" due to his "parent" suffering in the past, the most important that he saved him too many times to finally prove that he loves "momma" from the bottom of his artificial heart), ever since Yusaku embraced literally that tiny part of himself, things took an unexpected turn. Shoichi still wasn't sure how it happened, whether the fact they named former IGN006 together influenced or that they protected and convinced Ai that no matter what his life mattered, but all of them ended up being tightly bound together into that small parody of a family.

Though, apparently, to Yusaku that was in no way a "parody"...

Shoichi couldn't complain anyway: to him Jin, Ai and, of course, Yusaku were just that.

 _His irreplaceable, beloved family_.

"Sho-chan?"

"Hm? What's wro... uh!"

The older man blinked at surprise as he was firmly pinned down with all of Yusaku's weight hovering above him, the sun turning into halo above the blue-pink-haired head.

"I have something to tell you," purely childish glee was dancing akin to sunbeams within the mesmerizing depth of pretty emerald eyes.

"Ooh, what is it?" Shoichi suddenly found the climate grow even hotter than it already was.

"I love you."

Yusaku smiled and sealed the exact meaning of these three sacred words with a sweet kiss.

Shoichi's eyes went wide, but only for a second as he softly brushed his lover's cheeks with his fingertips and craned his neck to let their lips fully melt into each other.

Truly, one of the many true love's kisses they had been sharing ever since... ever since?

God, they had been together for so long and everything seemed so natural to them that they could barely remember when exactly did they cross the thin line between "friend" and "boyfriend" zones.

"Are you happy right now?" Yusaku asked, a bit worryingly as sometimes a small twinge of doubt would prickle him akin to a rose's thorn.

"There was never a second I wasn't," Shoichi beamed, cupping his lover's cheek while an aftertaste of warmth and a bit of lemon juice still lingered on his lips. "And there's no force that would make me believe there will be. But what about you?"

"See those two clouds there, at the edge of the sky?" Yusaku playfully curled a strand of his boyfriend's hair around his finger.

"Mm, I do?"

"That's how I always felt: drifting freely across Heavens, supported by beloved with whom I occasionally fuse and become one so that at the darkest hour to descend upon enemies' heads as fierce, heavy rain."

"Yusaku..."

"I would have never gained this much happiness without Sho-chan watching and supporting me. Thank you."

"...Silly."

Shoichi sighed and left the needless explanation of his reaction to his own arms that wrapped around Yusaku's frame and pulled him closer so that their fluttering hearts would echo each other side by side, like their owners had always been.

"I hope those two are not gonna set the restaurant on fire," Yusaku suddenly said, trying to get himself distracted from the "fever" that was actually setting on one his own cheeks.

"Haha, you know Jin is a capable junior chef," Shoichi chuckled, stroking his boyfriend's hair. "No need to worry."

"I guess so."

One carefree laughter for two ascended freely and ended up there as well, at the edge of the sky itself.


End file.
